Harry Potter has been one of the things that defines my generation. The level of dedication found amongst the fans is mostly due to the fact that we grew up with Harry. Many of us lost family members during that time, or experienced oppression or just plain ordinary bullying. To so many young people, the world of Harry Potter is both an escape from the horrible things in our lives and a way of reassuring ourselves that we can get through them just like Harry did. By writing such wonderful characters and making it so easy for us to identify with them, J.K. Rowling has inspired a level of dedication only matched by Twilight fans, and it's generally a much healthier form of dedication as well!
In short, Potterheads have a lot to bond over from our own lives in addition to the shared interest in the wizarding world.
People from all over the world have used these shared experiences to create new media associated with the series, and even better, to try to improve things in the Muggle world. The Harry Potter Alliance, for example, campaigns for equality and human rights by drawing parallels between the Harry Potter books and our own world to raise awareness of those issues. In the USA, the American Library Association use the Harry Potter books and work with the Golden Trio film actors to promote literacy. How many other young adult fantasy novels have produced this level of political and social awareness? Perhaps The Hunger Games will go down this route - I certainly hope it does - but right now Harry Potter is light years ahead of the competition.
Aside from the serious activism, there is a lot of fun associated with the Potterverse. There is wonderful fanfiction, wizard rock, fan art and even a real-life Quidditch World Cup. Potter fans are fantastically creative, and some of the fan works have become famous all over the world. Two fan-made musicals have been produced. Groups on social networking sites number in the thousands. There are over 700 bands producing Harry Potter-themed music and there are online RPGs for those who don't have friends at school, work or college who will take part. Of course, we do have to be very grateful for the internet. Without that ability to collaborate and discuss with other fans from around the world, the fandom might be fragmented and it would almost certainly be much smaller.
The Potter fandom does have a downside, unfortunately. There are certain groups of fans that make the rest of us look bad, and it's always a good idea to recognise that so that we can avoid falling into the same traps. Something that particularly bothers me is the attitude around shipping in fanfiction, and the accompanying attitude to characters that 'get in the way' of somebody's OTP (one true pairing). It seems to be much, much worse amongst the younger teenage fans - don't get me wrong, they're still a minority in that age group - since the rise of Twilight and its messed-up view of relationships. I cannot stress this enough: slut-shaming, trivialising rape, selective/judgemental interpretation of personality traits (even of fictional characters), racism and homophobia are not acceptable ways to justify your opinions or make your preferred pairing happen. They are not acceptable in real life, and they are not acceptable in fiction. A huge part of the Harry Potter series and the fandom is the fight against oppression in all its forms, so when I see Harmonians (Harry/Hermione shippers) calling Ginny a slut or a whore, I get angry. When I see people giving Draco a tragic non-canon backstory to make him some kind of hero instead of a privileged, sheltered and immature boy, I get angry. Not only are these things an insult to the characters you profess to love and their creator, they are an insult to every person who experiences oppression in any form from verbal abuse to losing their lives.
Thankfully, we don't have a 'Teams' situation, although I am occasionally worried by those who can justify all of Snape's behaviour and none of James's, or vice versa. I don't want this fandom to go down that route, I really don't. We are better than that.
I have to say though, the slut-shaming and sexism from some quarters really does bother me. The Harry Potter fandom is predominantly female, and we should all try to fight sexism by making sure nobody can use our gender as an excuse not to take us seriously. As women and geeks (which we are, we're reading 600-page fantasy novels after all) we have enough sexism to deal with. I don't expect some kind of sisterhood to emerge, but we don't need to attack other women, even if they're not real! Often we're not really seeing it from the men in the fandom either, so even though that in itself is good, those of us who identify as female don't have an excuse to get sloppy.
Phew. Rant over. Back to the positives.
I love this fandom. I really do. I love that people are friendly, and that they can make fun of Harry Potter in an affectionate way. I love that it's okay to say you find a character attractive, but that people will call you out on it if your attitude is unhealthy. I love that there are so many in-jokes. I love that people in this fandom are enthusiastic about reading and learning more about things that are linked to the Potterverse and things that are not. I love that it is often a safe space that welcomes everyone, and that when somebody breaks the rules, things are usually dealt with in a way that avoids any further bad feeling. I love that people are involved enough to dress up, to have themselves Sorted, and to spend hours debating minor details.
As much as I rage at the negatives, I don't ever want to leave.
Hogwarts is home to us, just like it's home to Harry. We grew up there, in a way. It will always be there for us to go back and read all the stories again, picking up on things we missed as children and prolonging the joy we get from what we once saw as simple stories of magic. And we'll always have each other, because of the bonds we formed over these books. To quote A Very Potter Musical (again), "You're the part of me that makes me better wherever I go" - and that is so often the case when it comes to Harry Potter. Not only is the series about love and acceptance, the fans are all about that too.
To end on a personal note: I was bullied for about ten years, from the age of nine to the end of my first year at university. During that time, I lost several family members, my relationship with my father collapsed and I developed what is basically a stress-related illness. Sometimes I still don't feel like I belong anywhere or that I am wanted despite evidence to the contrary. Yet, when I spend time with other Harry Potter fans - online or in person - I know that there is a place for me. So thank you for being so awesome.
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